Envy15 or Desktop

Hey everybody! I have been looking and saving to build a $2000 desktop and then I ran into this beast of a machine the Envy15. Now I will be using it mainly for school whihc is 3d apps, CAD, works, everything and anything I can get my hands one including playing some WoW and the new COD here or there. I mainly work at school so I figured lugging a desktop around wouldnt work.

My question to you all is this Envy really a desktop replacement? How well will it perform with that Radeon 4830 1GB card? Without factoring in my traveling to school, would it be wiser to spend the money on a desktop or the Envy?

All thoughts and comments greatly appreciated

 

Also I will be replacing my Lenovo T61p

 

any thoughts?

 

if your going to leave it on your desk 100% of the time you will always get more for your money in a desktop over any laptop.

That being said being a college student i have a desktop but i wish i had gotten a laptop, would be nice to be able to take my machine places (even the other room, all good though im going to turn it into a server once i get my laptop). Im also now looking to get an envy. Hp, last year, on black friday had a 40% cash back through bing, so im waiting for that.

 

Spec wise is the envy 15 what I should be looking for?

 

It definitely has the power that you need for your activities, but as it is a laptop, it doesn't have the possibility of a big monitor which would be really handy for 3D apps and CAD.

Think of it this way: you can get, for the same money, the incredible power of the Envy 15 or you can give up portability and go for a desktop that will have even MORE power, MORE screen estate, etc. How important is portability for you? You could always get the laptop and buy a separate monitor (that's what I do when I'm at home with my laptop).

 

Yea i have a monitor to use thats why im not too concerned with that. plus i do most of my work on my 15" T61p now anyways so it wouldnt be much of a difference

 

It all depends on how much mobility, since your in school, I would recommend the Envy 15.

 

If you are really interested in this laptop I suggest you read the pros and cons. here you go... http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=427278. It's a lot of reading but there is a ton of info on the E15.

 

Why not build a powerful desktop and take away at least 300/400 for a netbook or a dm3. Just buy the cheapest DM3 with AMD/ATi and use the rest for a desktop + big LCD.

 

like stated before, i do all of my work at school which means i will be using my 3d apps, CAD and all that....cant really do that on a netbook. I also have one already hehe

 

Oh sorry, I must've missed it. I guess the Envy 15 would be a great choice. It does get really hot though, but it may be your best option in terms of portability + power.

 

if your mobility is a huge factor id say the laptop if not a factor really desktop hand down you will get way way more bang for your buck with a desktop obviously over a laptop anyday

 

the Radeon 4830 is really good for my apps? can i run WoW on full? Nvidia stuff I know not Radeon haha

 

You can't play games on a netbook, or do much else really, you'd have to use the desktop for just about everything else, and you could just get a notebook that does both and keep the portability. Plus you run the small risk of leaving a file on your desktop if you should ever need it elsewhere; it happens.



Really, that's all there is to it; do you want to sacrifice portability for performance?

 

in all honesty with that graphic card am i sacrificing THAT much performance?

 

For the price of the Envy 15, I would just buy a moderately powerful thin and light for ~$1000 and then spend the rest on a nice desktop.

 

If u really want a laptop , get something other than the envy 15... it might have nice CPU but the GPU (ATI4830) has a 128bit bus with GDDR3.. i can easly find a laptop with a better card and for 2k easily.. like ASUS G51J and new WC890CU or whatever it is..

 

so the radeon 4830 isnt that great? In all honesty only games i really play is WoW and if i can run that on high then im happy

 

on top of my other apps =)

 

The 4830 will be more than enough to run WoW. Trust me. I ran WoW (when I used to play) with everything on HIGH with a 4 year old card (6800GT, desktop)

 

I would recommend exactly what a few others here have recommended. A nice thin and light notebook + a powerful desktop--that's what I did, so yeah, I'm a little biased, but so far it's working out really well for me. I keep my school files synced perfectly between the two using Microsoft Live Sync. I sync all my MP3 files and school documents so that when I download more music/edit my files they are automatically synced in like 15 seconds (as long as both computers are on the internet). It's pretty sweet.

I currently have a desktop. Specs: 3.2 Ghz Phenom II X4 955 + PNY Nvidia 275 GTX -- 4 GB DDR3-1600 -- 3DMark06 = 15683 -- Crysis Warhead + Enthusiast + 1920x1080 = 28-30 FPS

I put that desktop together for $900, and it can play any game and run pretty much all programs at great settings... (My desktop is probably about 2.5x as powerful graphically as an HP Envy 15--I couldn't say about the processors. I haven't heard about how good new mobile i7 is compared to the Phenom II X4 955).

As far as a laptop is concerned, I wouldn't go for a netbook. I'd go for either the dm3t/z, Asus UL80VT-A1, or the 13" Macbook Pro. All of those laptops have dedicated graphics options, are thin and light, and have good battery life. I am currently in the throws of deciding which of those three I would like to have...

So... build a desktop for $900... buy the dm3z for $550 or so... and buy a 42" Plasma HDTV with the left over $600! YAHOO!

 

yet again i do all my work at school so a desktop wouldnt work to well. although the idea is great i would rather build a desktop later down the road. having the desktop now would lmost be useless since i do all my work in school. only thing i really do at my room is web browse and play WoW but not as heavy. and i need a laptop to run 3d Apps, CAD and WoW.
Options are now MBP, HP Envy15, and ASUS G51J-A1

 

Ahh.. okay, I was thinking it was a decision between a Envy 15 or a Desktop... but really it's evolved to just a decision between the different laptops. Gotcha... I think after seeing the Envy 15, I'd have to recommend a 15" Macbook Pro for sure. I'd only recommend the Envy 15 if the MBP wasn't powerful enough for you. The Envy 15 definitely has better specs... but the MBP is definitely the better designed system in terms of slimness + portability + battery life... while Envy 15 has some extra power behind it... You might also seriously consider a HDX16 or dv6t Quad edition. Either of those would provide better performance than the MBP and it would be cheaper than both the MBP and the Envy 15. Plus you can get a higher res screen on an HDX than you could on the MBP 15".

 

what about graphics wise? I play WoW on high and run 3Ds max, Revit, AutoCAD, Photoshop CS4, Illustrator CS4 etc... I think I really just love the design of the Envy and MBP hahaha

 

The MBP 15" with the 9600 GT is going to be about 3/4's graphically as the Envy 15, processor wise, however, the Envy 15's i7 has the MBP by about double when it comes to rendering video, etc...

The dv6t Quad edition would be about 4/5's the power graphically as the Envy 15 and it would also have the i7 Processor in it so it would also be about double the MBP... the dv6t starts at $906 with the education discount HP offers. It sure seems like a great deal to me.

The HDX16 would be very similar to the dv6t but would be a little bigger/heavier.

 

Well have you tried looking at Sager NP8692 or something? It has core i7 and GTX280M.. very powerful.. alternative is Sager NP9262 with core i7 desktop processor and GTX280M.. it will own any laptop.. in fact in CAD it would be much better but i think it would cost$2000-3000... check some online retailers like xoptic.com..